Historic Photos

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Being relatively new to Upstate, I'm very interested in old photos of GV, Spartanburg and Anderson (urban downtown shots from the 30's, 40's, 50's, 60's etc). I found one pretty good book...Greenville, Images of America by Piper Peters Aheron. Has some old shots of the Ottaray Hotel, Woodside Building, old mills, etc. Does anybody know another good source for such photos? Is their an online website?

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I'm not aware of any online sites myself; however, I have seen a few books both at Barnes & Noble (in the Local Interest Area) and at the Mast General Store which provide some historic photos of Greenville.

I don't have any Book Titles off-hand, but if you go to either place, you will most likely find them. There's even one on the history of baseball in Greenville and the Upstate. It probably needs to be updated though

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You should definitely check out the Greenville County Library's local and state reference room to find this info. I've found some incredible stuff from long ago about this area. You can also look at every Greenville News published all the way back into the 1800s! They allow you to print photocopies for a small charge.

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Thanks Spartan! These are great. The old courthouse.....man what a gorgeous building! What year was it demolished? Why?

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It was demolished in the 1960s? It was old, and more space as needed. The national trend was for the sleek and "modern" buildings. Spartanburg embraced that ideology and build the monstrosity you see today. There is still an empty lot where the old couthouse was.

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Did Greenville or Spartanburg ever have grand downtown theaters? (From the 20's, 30's) Were these destroyed? Most cities elsewhere in the nation usually seem to have one or two, sometimes they've been revitalized, sometimes not. Haven't heard mention of any old "Grand Dame" here.

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Yes. Spartanburg had its old Opera House, which was a major attraction and a thing of beauty. And like everything else of historic value, this town knocked it down in the name of progress. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of it.

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If you haven't already seen it, the Library of Congress website is a great place to find old photos and maps of any U.S. city. Type Greenville or Spartanburg in the search and you will get a lot of great results. I can spend hours on this site. It's one of my favorites.

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If you haven't already seen it, the Library of Congress website is a great place to find old photos and maps of any U.S. city. Type Greenville or Spartanburg in the search and you will get a lot of great results. I can spend hours on this site. It's one of my favorites.

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Spartan: where did you find those postcards of downtown Spartanburg? Those are incredible--so sad though.

You all probably know about these books but I love the Phil Racine books about Spartanburg. You can find them at the public library, but if you want your own copy...I think one of them is actually out of print but many of the pictures are duplicated.

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Spartan: where did you find those postcards of downtown Spartanburg? Those are incredible--so sad though.

You all probably know about these books but I love the Phil Racine books about Spartanburg. You can find them at the public library, but if you want your own copy...I think one of them is actually out of print but many of the pictures are duplicated.

Not only have I heard of it, I own it. I also own a previous and limited edition of that book. My latest interest has been in the Textile Town book. One of these days I will purchase it.

I have never used the Kennedy Room, but I have heard of it.

Another book that is an interesting read is "Spartanburg, South Carolina" which is a post card picture series by Jeffery R Willis. It is a physically small book, but it is very interesting. I wish I had a scanner so I could show some of the images in it. The only place I have seen it is at Barnes & Noble in the local history section. They have a million similar kinds for every city.

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...Another book that is an interesting read is "Spartanburg, South Carolina" which is a post card picture series by Jeffery R Willis. It is a physically small book, but it is very interesting. I wish I had a scanner so I could show some of the images in it. The only place I have seen it is at Barnes & Noble in the local history section. They have a million similar kinds for every city.

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Yeah. Also you can buy them at The Open Book across from the University Center in Greenville. Very interesting series of books!